Mike Albo Goes Shopping: Museum Shopping Edition

Our frontrunner Critical Shopper candidate Mike Albo returns today with a visit to one of The Shophound's favorite stores, The Museum of Modern Art Store. Mike points out that the museum-like atmosphere of the store seems to confer a special artsy gloss on the merchandise, even though much of it can be found in other stores. Here's a few things he forgot to mention:

• Not Everything In The Store Is A Part Of The Museum's Permanent Collection. Some items, like the Eames Chair, the Josef Albers nesting tables and the Alvar Aalto bowls, are, but not all the merchandise, however well designed it may be, is an actual museum piece.
• There Are Great Toys There. If you are sick of giving mass produced gifts based on cartoons to small children, then there is a great alternative. The toy section is full of clever toys that are fun for kids. Their good design is incidental, plus there are lits of great playthings for children who are artistically inclined. It's a great option for times when you can't bear Toys R Us (which in our case is always).
• MUJI! Until the MUJI stores open in the new Times building and in SoHo, the MoMA stores are the only U.S. outlets for these minimal yet undeniably appealing and affordable Japanese products. We loved the featherweight translucent raincoats, and the tiny hammer with an entire toolkit hidden its handle. The SoHo MoMA Store has an expanded furniture selection from them as well.

Of course, it goes without saying that there is a great selection of art books and, yes, posters. In fact, if you liked an exhibition from a few years ago, chances are you can still find the poster or catalog there. Here at The Shophound, we tend to prefer the SoHo location at Prince and Crosby Streets, mainly because it isn't bisected by West 53rd Street. There's more MUJI, and there is a lower proportion of slack-jawed-tourists to get in your way, at least on the weekdays, always a plus as far as we are concerned.
MoMA Design Store 44 West 53rd Street, Midtown
also, 81 Spring Street, SoHo
Critical Shopper:

A Trip to the Gift Shop Is Like a Day at the Museum (NYTimes)